


Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine

by keine_angst



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Fix-It, M/M, Missing Scene, Spoilers for the ending, the ending reimagined
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:22:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29531910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keine_angst/pseuds/keine_angst
Summary: That’s what he’d been dreaming of his entire life - no more divisions, no more hatred - but once he saw this new, changed world, he couldn’t help but feel like a certain chapter of his life had come to an end.the ending, reimagined.
Relationships: Nezumi/Shion (No. 6)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peachass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachass/gifts).



> for my dear friend @peachass, I love you so so much. 
> 
> I've watched the entire anime series last night, cried like a child and then I wrote this at 4 am, so sorry if it doesn't make much sense, but I really wanted to write my version of the ending.

* * *

The sky exploded. 

Nezumi thought he was dying for the third time that day. He didn’t dare to open his eyes - _ no, he couldn’t possibly open his eyes _ ,  _ his lids were too heavy to allow him to  _ \- he couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. All he could think of was the bone-chilling cacophony of noises and the ground under him shaking in apocalyptic spasms.  _ So this is what hell looks like _ , he thought to himself in a gleam of consciousness, before sinking headfirst into the bottomless depths of hopelessness.

And then everything stopped.

As the dust was settling down on his face, the silence absorbed him. Nezumi could hear his heart pounding in his chest and his teeth chattering uncontrollably. He was on a verge of passing out -  _ wait, no, he was already dead, how could he pass out _ \- when a voice issued from above him, like he was underwater and heard someone calling him.

“Nezumi.”

Warm hands brushed his neck so softly that he could mistaken it for a blow of the wind. He put all the energy left in his body into an attempt to open his eyes. Shion was leaning over him, white-haired and blushed in a halo of light.  _ Like an angel. But how? He’d got shot several times. He’d bled out in Nezumi’s arms. He-  _

Shion caressed his cheek with the back of his hand and suddenly the reality crashed down on Nezumi.  _ He wasn’t dead. _ And Shion miraculously survived as well. The pain from his wounds that had been barely noticeable to him up to that moment surfaced abruptly. He buckled up and drawed his knees to his chest, opening his mouth in a silent groan. 

“Shhh,” Shion put his hand on Nezumi’s arm, reassuringly, “it’s fine.  _ We’re _ fine.”

Nezumi wanted to believe him. He wanted to believe that the pain was going to fade away, that they were going to live through this, that they’ve made it -

“How?-” he managed to mouth the question.

“I heard Safu singing,” Shion explained. His voice was soothing, like a balm for his ears after a volley of explosions. He took Nezumi’s hand and carefully helped him sit up. “And I heard  _ you _ . You brought me back.”

The world was shaking before his eyes and Nezumi felt dizzy - from the blood loss, from the unnatural brightness of the sky, from Shion’s closeness - it took him several minutes to gather himself together and fully comprehend what had happened. It was all over. The world they had known their entire life had tumbled down. They were the ones who had led to that. 

“Get up. You have to see this,” Shion encouraged him, squeezing his hand lightly. Dark-haired boy stood up with difficulty, accepting the help from his companion. Shion led him to the ridge of a crater wrenched away by the explosion. 

The walls surrounding No.6 were demolished. The sun was shining and lighting up the ruins of the city. Never in his life had Nezumi seen such brightness - the air was smelling of light and of hope. He closed his eyes, holding back a cry. That’s what he’d been dreaming of his entire life - no more divisions, no more hatred - but once he saw this new, changed world, he couldn’t help but feel like a certain chapter of his life had come to an end. 

Nezumi let go of Shion’s hand and turned back without a word. He was aching all over, every step he was taking hurt him so much that he was barely aware of what he was doing, but he was determined to leave, run away,  _ fucking disappear _ once and for good, to avoid tearful adieux, to avoid causing this angelic boy any more harm. 

“Nezumi.”

The tone of Shion’s voice made him stop midstride. It wasn’t necessarily sad or hopeless, but rather fraught, expectant. It was clear that it was an equally painful moment for both of them and Nezumi almost felt bad for being so selfish in his will to avoid this tough farewell. Without thinking much, he approached Shion and wrapped his arms around his shivering body as he leant for a kiss. 

Shion had kissed him once before, saying that it was but a goodnight kiss. It was sweet and innocent like nothing else in his life. When that had happened, Nezumi didn’t know exactly what to think about it - so he just didn’t think much of it. 

This time however, he knew that he had to go, leave him for good, so he didn’t even try to hold back. The kiss tasted of tears - his or Shion’s, or both, he couldn’t tell - and of words that they’d left unspoken; of passion and regret; of the past filled with striving against the adversities and the uncertainty of the future. Once their lips parted, Nezumi was breathless with his arms still around Shion’s waist and chest, holding him close like he wanted his body to blend itself with the other boy’s skin. They froze in a hug, both too scared to move, as if the cocoon formed by their arms was the only safe space in the unpredictable world they were in - which, considering what had just happened, wasn’t that much of an overstatement. 

“You’ll be fine,” Nezumi finally broke the silence, whispering just above the other boy’s ear, “you’re tough. I know you can handle it without me.”

Shion quivered in his arms and Nezumi felt the need to comfort him, to cheer him up, to never let him go. “I don’t want you to go,” white-haired boy said, and the way he sounded tore Nezumi’s heart to pieces. Shion’s hand found his and their fingers interlocked. “I know I’ll be fine. But without you, I’ll never feel complete again.” 

Shion was squeezing his hand so hard it almost hurt. Nezumi desperately wanted to kiss him again, just once, before he would leave him forever, but he was aware that if he’d allowed himself such a weakness, it would make it even harder to finally let go. Instead, he pulled his hand away from Shion’s grip and smiled sadly at him.

“I’d be lying if I said I don’t understand exactly how you’re feeling right now,” he said, taking a step back, “because I love you-” he paused, overwhelmed by the weight of the words he was about to say, “and I’d give you everything in the world. But staying here is the one thing I cannot give you.”

Shion sucked a sharp breath, looking up at him with glassy eyes. As he nodded his head, a single tear flowed down his cheek. Nezumi reacted before he could even think about it - he kissed the tear away and buried his face in the crook of Shion’s neck to hide the fact that he was on the verge of tears himself. It took him an indescribable amount of willpower to pull away eventually, and when he did, he noticed that Shion’s face had changed - he seemed peaceful at last. Nezumi had never seen him look like this - like he didn’t have a single worry in the world. 

“Promise me one thing,” he requested, putting his hand on his chest, right above his pounding heart, “wherever you’re going now, remember to think about me from time to time. I will know when you do. I’ll feel,” with his free hand he pointed at his own chest, “I will feel it right here.”

“I will,” Nezumi promised. He wanted to say the final goodbye, but he choked on a silent cry and couldn’t say anything else without risking tearing up completely. He turned around and had to forbear from running; it would be so much easier to just run away; walking away slowly, nervelessly, was like condemning himself to slow, crushing tortures. 

  
  
  


Shion followed Nezumi with his eyes as the dark-haired boy was walking away through the wasteland. He could feel his eyes becoming moist again; he didn’t want to let himself get emotional again. The awareness that Nezumi had left for good was soul-crushing, but he knew the boy wouldn’t want to see him crying over that. Loss was but an integral part of one’s life - he was going to have to come to terms with losing Safu, his lifelong friend, and now Nezumi - his tower of strength, his soulmate, his -  _ perhaps? _ \- his lover…

“Shion!” 

The voice that screamed his name made his heart stop for a second. He turned back and had to blink a couple of times in disbelief. It was his mother, running in his direction with her arms outstretched. Before he could fathom the magnitude of this moment - the final reconnection with her after months of separation - his mother embraced him, knocking the air out of his lungs. “I thought I lost you forever,” she breathed out feverishly, hugging her son with a force that one wouldn’t expect from such a petite woman. “I missed you so much.”

_ I missed you too, mom, _ Shion wanted to reply, but he couldn’t think straight in the situation; he instinctively looked again in the direction that Nezumi had taken, but he couldn’t spot him anymore; he was nowhere to be seen.

Shion closed his eyes and allowed himself to cry. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @keine-angst
> 
> the title is a line from "Oh comely" by Neutral Milk Hotel


End file.
